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How to Attain Liberation from a False World? the Gnostic Myth of Sophia

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How to Attain Liberation from a False World? the Gnostic Myth of Sophia Journal of Religion & Film Volume 21 Article 34 Issue 1 April 2017 4-1-2017 How To Attain Liberation From a False World? The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998) Fryderyk Kwiatkowski Jagiellonian University in Kraków, [email protected] Recommended Citation Kwiatkowski, Fryderyk (2017) "How To Attain Liberation From a False World? The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998)," Journal of Religion & Film: Vol. 21 : Iss. 1 , Article 34. Available at: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/34 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UNO. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Religion & Film by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UNO. For more information, please contact [email protected]. How To Attain Liberation From a False World? The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998) Abstract In the second half of the 20th century, a fascinating revival of ancient Gnostic ideas in American popular culture could be observed. One of the major streams through which Gnostic ideas are transmitted is Hollywood cinema. Many works that emerged at the end of 1990s can be viewed through the ideas of ancient Gnostic systems: The Truman Show (1998), The Thirteenth Floor (1999), The Others (2001), Vanilla Sky (2001) or The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003). In this article, the author analyses Dark City (1998) and demonstrates that the story depicted in the film is heavily indebted to the Gnostic myth of Sophia. He bases his inquiry on the newest research results in Gnostic Studies in order to highlight the importance of definitional problems within the field and how carefully the concept of “Gnosticism” should be applied to popular culture studies. Keywords Gnosticism, Hollywood, Gnosis, Western esotericism, neo-noir, science-fiction Author Notes Fryderyk Kwiatkowski is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Philosophy of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He is also affiliated to the Facta Ficta Research Centre in Kraków. He is currently preparing a dissertation about the idea of the Gnostic myth and conspirituality in Hollywood (1990-2016). His research interests include the reception of esoteric ideas in contemporary Western culture, with particular focus on Gnosticism in philosophy, literature, and popular culture. He is an editorial assistant for the Nag Hammadi Bibliography Online (Brill) and Facta Ficta Journal. He did internships at the Center for Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents of the University of Amsterdam and at the department of Jewish, Christian and Islamic Origins of the University of Groningen. This article is available in Journal of Religion & Film: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/34 Kwiatkowski: The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998) Introduction In the last three decades many Hollywood films have disclosed themes that can be viewed in the light of ancient Gnosticism. Several authors have rightly identified films such as The Truman Show (1998), Pleasantville (1998), Vanilla Sky (2001) or The Matrix trilogy (1999-2003) as “Gnostic.”1 In this paper, I provide a close reading of an understudied film directed by Alex Proyas, Dark City (1998),2 through the Gnostic myth of Sophia (Gr. Wisdom). Although one could also deliver a Neo-Platonic or Christian interpretation of Proyas’ work, I shall limit myself only to Gnosticism. First of all, I find the interpretative context of Gnosticism far more efficient in explaining various meanings of Dark City than previously mentioned. It is also due to the fact that in the light of ancient Gnostic thought, no thorough examination of Proyas’ work has been offered yet.3 What is Gnosticism? In contemporary Gnostic Studies the notion of Gnosticism is understood not as a historical unity that can be defined by a clear set of characteristics but rather as a theoretical term.4 For nearly two thousand years scholars had had no access to original “Gnostic” texts. They had to base their inquiry on the works of Church Fathers who distorted the meaning of teachings of various groups and persons they studied in the early Christian era. Amid them Saint Irenaeus of Lyons had the greatest influence. He called all of the Christian groups he Published by DigitalCommons@UNO, 2017 1 Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 21 [2017], Iss. 1, Art. 34 attacked adherents of false gnosis (Gr. “knowledge,” “investigation,” “insight”). Although Irenaeus was aware of the great diversity of groups he described, his account was very inaccurate. In 1945 near Nag Hammadi a great number of the so-called “Gnostic” scriptures were discovered. Scholars started to revise the concept of Gnosticism, which was the product of modern scholarship,5 and it soon became apparent that it was too narrow to encompass the enormous diversity of ideas, myths, practices and rituals expressed in the original texts. After the emergence of ground-breaking critical works of Michael A. Williams6 and Karen L. King,7 in which they argued for abandoning the idea of Gnosticism due to its inadequacy in the light of the discovered materials, several counterpropositions have been suggested.8 Most of them are embedded in the typological approach which offers a set of characteristics that group certain texts and ideas together. Their authors do not use the idea of “Gnosticism” or “Gnostic religion” referring to a single phenomenon. It rather serves as an interpretive or heuristic category to lump together thinkers and texts for closer scrutiny and comparison.9 I will base my inquiry of Dark City on the typology formulated by Roelof van den Broek.10 In his account, “Gnosticism” or rather “Gnostic religion” is understood as a phenomenon that flourished in great myths of the 2nd and 3rd century which spread across the Middle East and Roman Empire up to the Far East. Van den Broek enumerates the most typical features of Gnosticism that involve myths in which: https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/34 2 Kwiatkowski: The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998) (1) a distinction is made between the highest, unknown God and the imperfect or plainly evil creator-god, who is often identified with the God of the Bible; (2) this is often connected with an extensive description of the divine world (Pleroma), from which the essential core of human beings derives, and of disastrous “fall” of a divine being (Sophia, “Wisdom”), in this upper world; (3) as a result, humankind has become entrapped in the earthly condition of oblivion and death, from which it is saved by the revelation of gnosis by one or more heavenly messengers; (4) salvation is often actualized and celebrated in rituals that are performed within the gnostic community.11 Systems of Gnostic religion can be divided into two groups. In the first one, there is a dominant idea of radical dualism between two opposing principles of light and darkness. In Manichaeism, some Mandaean texts and three-principle systems, it is said that when darkness encountered light it resulted in the creation of the world with evil within. Most of the Gnostic systems, however, are monistic in the sense that they posit one divine transcendent principle from which everything begins. It is absolutely good but during a series of emanations an evil comes into being. Thus we can speak about a certain dualistic tendency within this type of gnosis and it can be found in Classic (Sethian) Gnosticism, Basilidian12 or Valentinian gnosis. For van den Broek, the set of traits he provides is the core of Gnostic religion which in his account stipulates a “radical” or “mythological” form of ancient gnosis.13 It is expressed in the great systems of the 2nd and 3rd century, e.g. Sethianism or Valentinianism. Therefore, the Dutch scholar avoids using the notion of Gnosticism. In this article, I shall understand the category of Gnosticism in a narrow sense, i.e. as a mythological form of ancient gnosis that van den Broek suggests.14 I will consider as “Gnostic” the ideas and people that Published by DigitalCommons@UNO, 2017 3 Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 21 [2017], Iss. 1, Art. 34 fit into van den Broek’s category of mythological gnosis. For instance, I name Sethians “Gnostic” who spoke about themselves as “Gnostics,” but also Valentinians, although in a narrower sense they should not be called such.15 The myth of Sophia One of the realizations of radical gnosis of its monistic type is the myth about Sophia’s fall (who can be also identified with “Word”, “Logos,” “Wisdom,” or “Achamoth,” depending on the Gnostic writing), a divine being who causes disruption within the celestial sphere, which leads to the creation of the world. Despite differences between numerous texts that express this myth, for instance Zostrianus (NHC VIII, 1) or Tripartite Tractate (NHC I, 5), they share a common set of traits.16 Most frequently, these scriptures start from the description of the heavenly world in which the unknowable God (also called in other texts “Bythos”, “Father” or “Monad”) resides. He comprises the original, metaphysical unity from which lesser beings emanate. However, they should not be viewed as distinctive, independent entities but symbolic manifestations of the Father. Aeons, altogether with God, comprise a divine sphere: Pleroma. The creation of the world is brought by a flaw, error, passion or ignorance of the lowest entity, Sophia. In the most popular versions of the myth, her fall is caused by her need for understanding the greatness of God or because she wanted to produce something on her own, without the permission of her spouse or the Father. In the aftermath, she gives birth to a malign, ignorant being called https://digitalcommons.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol21/iss1/34 4 Kwiatkowski: The Gnostic Myth of Sophia in Dark City (1998) “Demiurge”17 (also known as “Yaldabaoth,” “Saklas” or “Samael”).18 He creates human beings as well as the material world, a place of death, terror, and suffering.
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